Stokenet Hosting Proposal

Summary

Since May 2026 I have been hosting and operating the core Stokenet testnet infrastructure — one Gateway, two supporting full nodes, three validators, redundant ledger and database backups, and a monitoring node, all hosted in the EU/EEA. This revised proposal asks the Radix Foundation for a fixed grant of 4,000 USD in XRD to cover May–December 2026 (8 months), paid upfront and staked in the network.

Background

This is a revised version of the proposal submitted on RadixTalk on 28 March 2026: https://radixtalk.com/t/stokenet-call-to-action/2251/30

When that proposal was written, there was still considerable uncertainty around the future of the testnet. Priorities were unclear to the community, and few stepped forward to host Stokenet infrastructure — a service the Foundation had classified as P3. My original proposal therefore covered both a design phase and a transition phase, with a modest buffer for what was then unfamiliar territory.

When the Foundation announced the planned shutdown of the testnet, I chose to take on the responsibility regardless, accepting that I might never recover the monthly expenditure. I committed to carrying that risk for up to three months and brought my servers online in early May 2026. Stokenet has been running continuously since, and developers have had an uninterrupted testnet throughout.

That three-month window is now closing, and I am seeking a decision so the service can continue on a sustainable footing. As no DAO entity is yet established, I am directing this request to the Radix Foundation.

What has changed since March

Two months of hands-on operation have removed most of the original unknowns, and the revised offer reflects that:

• Proven setup. The infrastructure is live, stable, and already through its transition and go-live phases.
• Lower, fixed pricing. The revised figure is a fixed total rather than an estimate with a large contingency.
• A concrete reset plan. I have a tested approach for resetting the network, to be validated on separate infrastructure first. Regular resets reduce storage growth, shorten recovery times, and lower the hardware bar so more of the community can participate — and they reduce my own running costs, so the incentives are aligned.

Proposal

Full details of the revised offer are available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10YRWgbhpK-afD0yQFxmXiGNiD0gqqASXChtgXLR68Vs/edit?usp=sharing

Hosting and infrastructure as specified in that offer, from May 2026 to December 2026, for a fixed price of 4,000 USD paid in XRD.

The XRD will be staked in the network rather than sold — had my intention been to sell, I would have requested stablecoins. The service runs on a best-effort basis, targeting ~98–99.5% uptime, with monthly reporting on uptime, incidents, and infrastructure changes.

If the proposal is not approved

Without funding I will need to limit further losses and decommission the Stokenet Gateway services in mid-August. Developers would then need to stand up their own Gateway infrastructure, at an estimated 350–400 USD per month each. I would rather keep a shared, low-cost testnet available to the whole ecosystem, and I am happy to discuss adjustments to scope or terms if that helps reach agreement.

I respectfully request this grant from the Radix Foundation.